Wallaby Cummins ready to fight for his spot

Nick Cummins trains at Leichhardt Oval last week before his trip to France with the Wallabies. Photo: Getty Images

PARIS: Wallaby Nick Cummins may have had a combination of luck and injuries to thank for his Test debut in Argentina a month ago but he won't be relying on either of those to keep him there.

The Force winger, who notched up 50 Super Rugby games before claiming his first Test cap after the Wallabies suffered injuries in the back line, said he was determined to put his best foot forward on Australia's four-Test tour of Europe.

"Luckily for me every bugger fell over and I got a gig so I'm stoked about that, but it's just about trying to stay in the mix," Cummins said.

"I can offer something. I've just got to keep training well and hopefully get picked again."

Some familiar faces returned to the Wallabies as the team arrived in Paris on Sunday ahead of their first Test against France this weekend. Digby Ioane, Berrick Barnes, David Pocock and Stephen Moore were all back in their Wallabies gear, mingling alongside the rookies Ben Tapuai, James Hanson, Paddy Ryan, Kane Douglas and Cummins.

The return of Ioane and Barnes will cause another back-line reshuffle and Cummins knows his time in the gold jersey is precious. Ioane's expected return to the starting line-up may not come this week but it will come soon. Drew Mitchell is clawing his way back to form and Adam Ashley-Cooper's shadow still looms.

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"I was lucky to get [a start] but now I think I'm going to fight just as hard as they are to get back in the team, I'm going to fight just as hard to stay there because ... the best player deserves to be there and they're all good blokes who are good players," Cummins said.

"Whatever's best for the team. Robbie [Deans] has got his head on, he knows what's going on so he'll make the right call." The tour marks Cummins's first trip to France, as well as to Wales and Italy. But he was not the least bit daunted by the task ahead.

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"I know they're flamboyant [the] French and they look all right, they've got a pretty good style, their hairdos," Cummins said.

"I might take a few pointers when I get over there, try and go to a stylist and sort myself out, because a few of the boys have told me I look a bit ordinary at times."

It may not suit the part of an aggressive outside back, but the winger's curly blond mop belies a physicality that served the Wallabies well against the Pumas and the All Blacks last month.

Cummins said he was just trying to "have a crack, do what's in front at the time" but he also wanted to make his presence felt on the field. "I try and have a physical presence as a winger because I thought at the time [that] Australia needed a bit of physicality out on the edges, but they seem to have got a fair bit of it now," he said.

The Queensland-raised Randwick product battled a run of serious injuries while dwelling on the fringe of the national squad a few years ago. He went on to win a silver medal with the Australian sevens team at the Delhi Commonwealth Games and then enjoyed a solid season with the Force before becoming the 11th Wallabies debutant this year.

Cummins said the years of uncertainty – and a few lessons from the ferocious African honey badger – would stand him in good stead this time around.

"The Wallabies doctor in 2009 said [a serious foot injury] was potentially a career-ending injury and all these things were flashing through my head and you get quite emotional because you think the thing you've been dreaming on since you were a kid is not going to happen," he said.

"But then it's just that little back against the wall [attitude], the little honey badger that goes 'hang on, hang on, we're not going to back down here', and I managed to slowly get back, get back running, get back your fitness, get back your strength ... success is usually when you turn the next corner."